Cleaning bike in winter - tips please

Lucky Douglas

How to you get your bike clean when it's cold and dark outside?
I'm sure some put it into the bath, but I'd be very lucky to get away with that.....
Any ideas for getting it clean in the garage without flooding the place?

sungod

i use a hand-pumped garden sprayer, it's enough to wash off fresh wet crud, and then use a cloth to wipe things clean

uses about half a litre of water per go, i just put the bike outside, spray it down, bring in to wipe clean

similar to this one...

http://www.tools4trade.com/img/product_ ... 30070l.jpg

mine was from the local hardware store, cost about a tenner

keef66

I just wipe mine down with a cloth to remove any water/salt/mud. Frame first then wheel rims while the cloth is cleanest, then on to the drivechain. Then a quick lube round.

(Edited to add that I do have proper guards fitted, so it never gets too filthy anyway)

I only wash the thing outdoors, in daylight, on a breezy, sunny day so it can dry properly.

lastwords

Hardly ever need to wash my road bike i use crud road racers to stop wet road crud spraying everywhere, then i just wipe it down with baby wipes, if the chain gets mucky i will clean it with a chain cleaner.

bails87

Just clean it outside :?

Put a coat on and use a torch if there's absolutely no other source of light (security light, put the house lights on and do it in front of a large window/patio doors).

BrianTrousers

After a muddy cx race on Sunday, I ended up in the dark wearing a headtorch scraping mud off using hot soapy water and then rinsing with a hosepipe. Bearing in mind it was at least minus 2, I had difficulty trying to dry it off since when I spread the water round with a cloth it started to freeze onto the bike. Had to move it into the garage after trying to shake the water off. Lubed my chain immediately however. It's brand new after the last one rusted solid having forgotten to clean that from a previous ride.

That's my top tip, look after your chain!

MichaelW

Prep your frame (in September) with a few coats of car wax and mud has a hard time sticking.

Lucky Douglas

thanks for these ideas - garden sprayer filled with warm water might be the way forward.

woodywmb

Lucky Douglas wrote:

thanks for these ideas - garden sprayer filled with warm water might be the way forward.

I got one of these from Lidl for £5. Works a treat. Take it in the car when I go mountain biking - and it does shift the packed on mud after a spray of Muc Off. Hozelock do a sturdier version for £25 and there are some large bike specific ones costing £70 to £100. You get what you pay for. But a fiver is a good starting point if you want to test the idea.

pilot_pete

Err, clean in the garage? Can't you open the door, place it outside, hose it down then dry it off and lube it? That's what I do after every ride. My mates think I'm obsessive....I am, I don't have a winter bike, just a best summer bike, so it needs really looking after in winter!

Failing that, try baby wipes and a car wash mitt or kitchen roll. Wet wipes to clean the crap off, wash mitt (dry) or kitchen roll to dry wipe it down after. My wash mitt from Halfords has all those soft fingers on that absorb loads of water, easily enough to dry my bike post wash. Baby wipes are great as you can put them around frame tubes and pull them back and forward to get behind the chain set etc. you can even clean between the cogs on the cassette that way.

Once clean and dry (another tip, gently bounce the bike on the ground to remove excess water before drying) I use GT85 on the chain. I locate the split link, wind the pedals back to get the link on the chain wheel (for a definite start/finish point), then spray the chain with my left hand whilst holding another dedicated chain mitt behind the chain with my right hand. The mitt absorbs overspray and then I can wipe the chain clean as I rotate the pedal back further. Spray about a 4" section at a time. This method seems to keep my chain clean and prevents premature winter wear. Every now and again you can split the chain, take it off and soak it in an old ice cream tube and use a brush to really clean it thoroughly....all whilst inside your garage!!!

I must admit I don't bother with dry or wet lube on the chain any more, despite what everyone says I've found my chain lasts just as long with this method as it did with lube...probably because I do this every ride in winter rather than just add a little more lube aft a wipe down.

For bar tape, again a bucket or ice cream tub with a nail brush and some washing machine powder or liquid. Gets it really clean and then a rinse with cold water (I use my hose pipe outside!)

p.s. I use non-alcohol baby wipes.

Points of note;

Don't spray bearings with any sort of power behind your hosepipe.
If you wash your bike as soon as you get in nothing dries on solid requiring more powerful spray/scrubbing.
Periodically dismantle and clean/maintain/lube bearings and things like brakes. I had to do this earlier in the week as my front brake wasn't quite releasing properly, turns out the washers between the two moving parts had a little surface rust causing excess resistance. A strip, bit of elbow grease polishing and reassemble with a smear of grease on each got them back to perfect.
I have Speedplay pedals and a grease gun, which come together after every wet ride as per the manufacturers recommendation. I avoid directly spraying the pedals when using my hosepipe. Baby wipes here!
Occasionally remove the wheels to clean those hard to get areas more easily/thoroughly.
Keep your bike in the house and move the missus into the garage, that way your pride and joy won't corrode anywhere near as much/ quickly! Not sure if the wife will!

PP